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2 Your Management Plan

Now that you are grounded in the basics of focus group methodology, you are ready to begin planning your project. Right away, you will need to make major decisions about how your project will be structured. This chapter will discuss staffing needs and options, the partnership role that community groups can play, and how to develop a timeline and budget.

Where do you look for research expertise?

Unless you happen to have qualified researchers on staff, you will want help planning and executing your project. You may decide to partner with a university or research firm, or you may hire a research consultant, particularly for the initial phases of your inquiry. You should also consider the advantages of putting together an advisory committee.

In deciding whether to collaborate with a university or research firm, consider these advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

Objectivity. Universities or research firms can lend impartiality to the study, which may strengthen your findings in the eyes of policy makers.

Expertise and resources. Researchers are trained to adhere to proper focus group methodology and fashion questions to best get at what you want to learn. They also may have the means to analyze the findings more efficiently.

Experience. If you choose researchers who are experienced in recruiting from the low-income population and who have worked in the policy areas you want to examine, you may benefit from that experience in developing research questions and focus group protocol, adopting effective recruitment strategies and analyzing findings.

Disadvantages:

Expense. Using a university or research firm is likely to add to your costs and may lengthen your timeline for completing the project.

Management complexity. Collaboration requires careful monitoring of the work of the researchers throughout the process. Good communication and a clear understanding of respective roles and responsibilities are essential.

Lack of awareness. Unless the research entity has had significant experience conducting focus groups of low-income parents, they may not be aware of the special issues to consider during all phases of the project.

Lack of community relationships. For successful recruitment, your organization may have to permit the researchers access to the community groups with which you have relationships. Such access will need to be facilitated by your staff.

Learning curve. You and your staff may know more about the programs and policies being examined, and may be more adept at translating research findings for policy makers, than the researchers are. It will take time to provide this background and to review and edit drafts of the focus group instruments and report.

Lack of in-state resources. In smaller states, appropriate research entities may not exist. You may need to go out of state to bring in researchers and this is likely to add to your costs and require greater coordination on your part.

What about a consultant?

A possible compromise between contracting with a university or research firm and going it alone may be to hire a research consultant to work in an advisory capacity, assisting in the planning and reviewing of instruments, being available for questions, and reviewing the draft of the report on the findings. This middle course may save you money and simplify the partnership, but it may also sacrifice the public perception of impartiality that a university or research firm can offer. Ultimately, it’s up to your organization to decide what will work best for your particular project.

Do you need an advisory committee?

Although creating and staffing a committee requires time and energy, it may be helpful to include an advisory group of some kind as part of your team. Members might include: experts in each of the policy arenas related to your research, policy makers in a position to follow up on your findings to bring about needed reforms, low-income parents, and representatives from community-based organizations in the areas where you plan to conduct your research.

Perhaps there is a group your organization already works with that could fill this advisory role. You should plan on asking the committee for assistance and advice on such tasks as: gathering state- and community-specific information on the target population and the programs and policies that affect them, developing research questions and recruitment strategies, interpreting findings and understanding their policy implications, and planning for, and assisting in, the dissemination of the findings.

The participation of an advisory committee is likely to enhance the political credibility of your research when results are released. Members can be effective spokespersons to present findings to the media and policy makers.

Staffing: whom do you need on your team?

To carry out your project, you may end up using a mix of in-house personnel, individuals hired for the project, and staff from community groups who are partners in the research. You will need to assign staff to the following functions:

Project director. Someone with research experience needs to manage the project and insure that correct focus group methodology is followed. Often this person also takes the lead on analyzing the findings and writing the final report.

Facilitator. The focus group moderator keeps the conversation going, makes participants feel comfortable, and helps them stay focused. This person should be a skilled, experienced facilitator. We strongly recommend that the person be hired from outside your organization to avoid the risk that he or she may bias the discussion, consciously or unconsciously, to fit the agenda of your organization.

Note taker. The note taker attends the focus group, takes detailed notes, and may operate the tape recorder.

Observer. The observer watches participants for nonverbal cues, providing additional eyes and ears for the facilitator, and operates the tape recorder if that job is not assigned to the note taker.

Logistical coordinator. The logistical coordinator oversees site selection, screening, and recruitment; acts as the main contact for community groups; arranges for refreshments and child care; makes sure that the room is appropriately arranged; provides a list of expected attendees to the facilitator and the note taker; and handles all other last minute details. If you’re short on staff, the logistical coordinator can serve as the observer or note taker during the session. It is essential to pick a well-organized but easy-going person for this job—it can be incredibly hectic!

Screeners. Screeners field phone calls from parents responding to your recruitment materials, following a protocol to determine whether parents meet the criteria for participation that you have set. (See Chapter Six for a discussion of recruitment and screening.)

What role can community groups play?

Community groups are central to your project because of their invaluable local knowledge. Once you have chosen the communities in which you plan to conduct sessions, the expertise of local groups can be tapped for everything from site selection and available populations for recruitment to such details as refreshments, transportation, and child care. The degree of their potential involvement will depend on their willingness to help and the staff they have available. You may choose to ask them simply to allow their name to be used on your flyers as a co-sponsor. Or you may want their active assistance in finding and screening parents. A local, well-known, and trusted organization can encourage interest, attendance, and a feeling of comfort on the part of the participants. New relationships between organizations may be formed, or existing ones strengthened, through the process.

How do you choose such partners?

Depending on the contacts your organization has in the community where you plan to hold focus groups, this question may answer itself.

A group with whom you already have a working relationship may be the obvious choice. If not, here are a few things to look for in choosing a community group to approach:

Find an agency or organization that works directly with the population you have targeted for your research at the local level.

Explore with other contacts whether this group is respected and trusted in the community.

Gauge the degree to which the group will be able to help you by the enthusiasm with which your project is received. A group that sees an effort like yours as fitting their mission and serving the needs of the population they serve will be motivated to give you the commitment you need.

Unless you have an unusually ample timeframe for your research, avoid choosing groups that are part of a much larger bureaucracy.

This can slow decision-making within their organization. (See Field Note.)

	Field Note
	One of the groups we approached in our special needs project was affiliated with a hospital. The group was very willing to help us, but we had to go through a series of bureaucratic hoops to get the hospital to sign off on an agreement to co-sponsor the project. Progress came to a standstill for weeks while we awaited a final decision.

What support do community groups need from you?

Community groups require oversight, direction, and a sense of connection to the project. At your first meeting, have prepared a written project description, answers to frequently asked questions, and a list of possible roles they could play. (See Appendix C for the one-page fact sheet we distributed in our special needs project.) If they have this information in writing from the start, they will understand the scope of the project and be better able to determine if they have the staff time available to provide you with the assistance you need.

Recognize that staff at likely agencies and organizations are often over- extended. Make it clear from the beginning that you will do everything possible to make it easy for them to become involved. If you want them to send a letter to their clients endorsing your project, offer to write the letter for them, make copies, stuff the envelopes and, of course, pay for postage. If they have a staff meeting scheduled, offer to come and talk about your project and answer any questions they might have.

The logistical coordinator should be the primary liaison between the project and the community group staff. She or he should meet with the community groups, visit suggested sites for the focus groups, and, if staff from the community group are going to screen the parents, arrange for them to be trained. The logistical coordinator should be responsible for communicating the project staff’s needs and decisions to the community groups so they can understand what the target population is, the criteria for site selection, and what recruitment strategies are acceptable.

How do you develop a timeline for your project?

Your overall timeline will depend on the number of communities you choose, the geographic distances between them, and the total number of focus groups you conduct. (See Appendix A for a sample timeline.)

Consider the following factors in developing a timeline:

Planning. Allow time initially for planning the project, including making decisions about the criteria you will use to define your population, developing your research questions, and creating your focus group instruments such as the screening tool and protocol. Taking the time to conduct a pilot focus group will help refine your questions and written materials. (See Chapter Four for a discussion of focus group instruments and Chapter Seven for a discussion of pilot focus groups.)

Finding participants. Allow what you think will be enough time to recruit parents and then double your estimate! Recruitment can be a long, unpredictable process. If you’re not liberal with your estimate in the beginning, unanticipated snags in the recruitment process can wreak havoc with your timeline later on.

Travel. Include travel time, if necessary, for your facilitator and/or staff.

Transcribing, translating. Provide adequate time for the audio tapes of the sessions to be transcribed and for any translations that are necessary to be completed. This is difficult, detail-oriented work. The transcription/translation process should begin as soon as your first focus group is held. Don’t wait until all of your sessions are completed.

Report preparation. Allow sufficient time for analyzing the transcripts, identifying themes, choosing quotes, and drafting and editing the final report. The credibility of your results depends on the care and attention to detail you bring to this task.

Final steps. Remember to include time for designing, printing, and disseminating the final report.

How much will this project cost?

Costs will depend on such factors as the number of communities in which you plan to conduct focus groups, the total number of sessions to be held in each, the number of subpopulations targeted, whether you contract with an outside research entity, and the potential for obtaining in-kind donations—space for the sessions, volunteers to provide child care—for some of your project expenses. When constructing a project budget, you will need to consider costs for the following elements:

• consultant fees, and conference calls and face-to-face meetings between partners, if you are collaborating with outside researchers (see Field Note.) ;
• focus group facilitator’s fees;
• travel (mileage or airfare and lodging if necessary, for facilitator, logistical coordinator, note taker, observer, and any other staff members);
• audio equipment, tapes, and a high quality microphone for recording sessions;
• cash stipends for participants;
• refreshments;
• child care and transportation for focus group participants and their children;
• transcription services or transcribing equipment if you plan to do the task in-house (A tape recorder with a foot pedal will range in cost from about $300 to $500 and can be found in any office supply catalogue.) ;
• translation services if you are conducting sessions in a language other than English (Consider the services needed to prepare focus group materials and screen the parents; for facilitating, note-taking, and observing at the sessions; and for translating the transcripts.);
• focus group facilities (if not donated);
• financial contribution or gift of an item needed by the community groups you work with as a thank you, if you consider that appropriate;
• copying or printing services for recruitment and focus group materials, printing and design services for the report, and postage and other dissemination costs; and
• staff time.

Field Note

To manage each of our projects we found it helpful to schedule weekly or bi-weekly meetings or conference calls throughout the planning and implementation phases. These were the responsibility of our project director and were used to review progress on tasks, answer any questions, and make decisions as unexpected issues came up. The project director also met regularly with the logistical coordinator. We found that supplementing conference calls by bringing together outside researchers and in-house staff for at least two face-to-face meetings during the planning and implementation phases was well worth the time and expense. These meetings strengthened relationships between the groups and helped us accomplish more in the long run.

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